The present invention is directed to fishing devices and, more particularly, to an apparatus for supporting a plurality of fishing rods unattended for use in fishing.
As all who have been fishing are aware, a fishing rod can not only become tiring to hold while trolling, but also can become awkward to hold while baiting a hook, changing lures, or untangling lines. These problems become accentuated when several persons are fishing from one boat. Since the space available to position the fishing rods is limited, the fisherman often finds it very inconvenient to attend to the routine tasks associated with fishing, such as changing lures, or baiting the hook.
In most cases, when a fisherman becomes tired of holding or attending to his rod, he stops fishing to rest. In doing so, he may inadvertently miss some of the best periods of fishing. In the case of deep-sea fishing, several people may charter a boat to fish, and all time not used in actually fishing is money lost. Typically, public charter boats are quite crowded, and leave minimal room for each fisherman. This not only causes inconvenience while baiting hooks or changing lures, but also provides a greater potential for tangled lines.
Some prior art arrangements have utilized fishing rod holders to aid the fisherman, but these holders are typically incorporated in a swivel chair for deep-sea fishing. Other arrangements have permanently built-in pole holders which receive the fishing rods on a boat, to store the rods while the boat is moving to or from the fishing area, or while trolling.
Other prior devices receive only one fishing rod and are limited in the support that can be provided to the rod when a large fish might strike an unattended line.
None of the prior art arrangements provide a portable fishing rod support device to hold several fishing rods in such a manner that the rods will be adequately retained within the device when a large fish strikes an unattended line.